Project update - March 2005

Rhino Monitoring

Diary of the capture and relocation of seven Rhinos in South Africa by Sue Downie

The Rhino Relocations over 3 days:

• The bulls, Ngara and Kleinalec from Darlington to Kuzuko
• 3 Namibian rhino from Kleinvlak to Dirk's Kraal at Darlington
• 2 hand-reared rhino to Kleinvlak

Darlington - 8th March 2005

Kleinalec : 08 March 2005 .

We were impressed with the briefing that Rudi Williams (Game Capture Co-ordinator), gave to the ground crew, and felt that a talk on the operation complete with the 'do's and don'ts', would be beneficial to all "visitors" attending a rhino capture. Not least because, at one stage Brian Beauchamp was being so crowded by people he did not have enough free movement to get the job of putting the transmitter into the rhino's horn done !

Kleinalec, Shibula's fourth calf, now nearly 4 years old, was the first rhino to be darted by Dr David Zimmermann from the helicopter flown by Hennie De Waal. Unfortunately, he went down in a dry river bed, but the truck was able to get to the rhino. A transmitter was placed in his front horn. As always, Cathy Dreyer assisted David and took good care of the rhino, in her calm, competent way. Kleinalec was weighed at about 880 kg and was walked into the crate. The loading went smoothly.

Ngara, the only mature bull at Darlington and Kleinalec's father was then darted. Fortunately the dart took effect in an open patch, and it was easy for the ground crew to get to him.

Dr Markus Hofmeyr was also present, with a visiting American vet, Dr. Dawn Zimmermann and a veterinary technician.

Ngara : 08 March 2005 .

Brian put the transmitter into Ngara's back horn, to avoid cutting his magnificent front horn. Ngara had a very definite 3rd horn, which can be seen in the photograph, between his ears. It consists of the same material and is about 4 cm long. Unfortunately the scale did not work when he was lifted on the stretcher to the truck as it would have been interesting to know his exact body weight, probably around 1'200 to 1'300 kg. Brian also tested an instrument called a "Snake Eye" to assess age by photographing the teeth and then comparing it with Peter Hitchin's study on how to age black rhino.

Ngara was moved to avoid mating with his offspring, Tria and Quattro, who will be 6 years this year. Kleinalec was moved to avoid conflict with the new bull.

Although mist delayed the start, the operation (capture of both bulls), went smoothly.

The bulls were then taken to Kuzuko, given an antidote, to wake them up which Ngara did calmly and took stock of his new surroundings. Kleinalec seemed a bit surprised by the crate.

Kleinvlak / Addo - 9th March

Mist again delayed the start then Helen, the young female (5 to 5½ years old) was darted first. She had a new transmitter fitted into her front horn and was walked into the crate. The older female, Sasha, (mother of Thandi, the hand-reared rhino born in the Addo bomas) was darted next. She is 8 to 9 years old, and she also had a new transmitter fitted into her front horn.

Gamka’s Ear notches being corrected : 09 March 2005 .

Sasha proved more difficult, awaking prematurely, and so had to be re-darted which took a while longer before she was finally sedated. She was also then walked into the crate, and loaded onto the truck.

The bull Gamka, (about 9 years old), had to have his rounded Namibian notches corrected to a V-shape, (which is easier to see when monitoring), and a new transmitter fitted.

Because of the difficulties, the capture at Kleinvlak unfortunately was only completed at 12:30, and it was already hot. The trip to Dirk's Kraal then took just over 3½ hours.

Sasha and Helen were released close to each other, Sasha first, then Helen. Sasha was calm but Helen was a little intimidated by her new surroundings, and was agitated when she came out of the crate, she chased the vehicle causing a small dent, before running off.

Gamka was finally released at 18:00 a couple of kilometres from the females, and moved quickly away from the crate.

The game capture team left Darlington late on Wednesday 9th March, to return to Addo for the relocation of the two hand-reared rhino the next morning. Lucky stayed on at Darlington, to monitor the three Namibian rhino from Kleinvlak, in their new home at Dirk's Kraal.

Addo Bomas - 10th March 2005

Thandi and Kapela, the two hand-reared rhino were darted, measured and Thandi had two identification notches cut into her ears. They were moved on stretchers to Kleinvlak and released near the water reservoir. They were placed together and woke up very calmly and started to explore their new home.

Dirk's Kraal, Darlington 10th and Friday 11th March 2005

Lucky and field ranger, Johnson April went into Dirk's Kraal, the new rhino camp at Darlington, at 06h45 to follow up on the three rhino released the previous day. It was light enough to ensure no confrontation.

Helen : Dirk’s Kraal : Lethargic after release :11 March 2005 .

Radio monitoring signals for Sasha (older female) and Helen were received from the area close to their release site. Shortly afterwards we found Helen about 500 m from the release site, on the side of a hill. She was moving slowly, with her tail horizontal and ear notches clearly visible. She was moving slowly, but not feeding. Just after 8:00 she lay down on her sternum.

At 08:45 we received a very strong radio signal for Gamka (the bull), about 500 m from his release site, in a very thick patch of acacia, but he was not visible. Later from the same lookout hill received a radio signal for Sasha to the west, towards her release site.

Along the road there was a lot of spoor and in a few places dung, which was nicely formed and content good, but no scrapings.

It was a cool, overcast day, temperature 210C at 10:30 and 22.50C at midday. The wind was strong, 25 kph from the south.

In the early evening, found Helen very close to her previous position - standing still - not moving. Also got signals from Sasha and Gamka. Saw Sasha at 18:00 walking from her release site down into the acacia thicket. Moving well and confidently. Heard her eating and breaking branches in the thicket.

On Friday went into the camp a little earlier, and found spoor at the T-junction to the females' release site, also dung and fresh scrapings, and Sasha's signal.

	Sasha, patrolling the fence : 11 March 2005 .

Turned back to the entrance gate and found Sasha close to the road on the northern side near the fence at 06:45. She was obviously patrolling the fence, walking confidently and purposefully.

We drove to the release site and she walked over the hill directly towards us - the notches clearly visible. We retreated. After the trauma during her capture, she has recovered exceptionally well.

At 08:00 found Helen only 15 m from her position the previous day, lying on her sternum.

At 08:30 got a very strong signal for Gamka in the same place as previously.

At 09:00 saw Sasha briefly in the thicket moving well.

At 13:15 went back to Helen. She was standing in the shade of a tree about 70 m to the east of her previous position. At 14:00 she lay down in the shade. Watched her until 14:45.

At 15:30 still strong signals from Sasha and Gamka about 500 m apart.

At 18:00 another brief glimpse of Sasha, then went back to Helen. Found her at 18:15, about 30 m from her position at 13:15. She was lying down on her side with her head down completely. She did not move until 18:45, when she moved onto her sternum. At 19:00 she got up and lethargically walked a few paces and was hidden by bushes.

Most concerned about Helen. Lethargic, not moving and not feeding.

A call to Markus Hofmeyr, the vet reassured us that her behaviour could be linked to the long acting tranquilliser drug Acuphase.

A further long call to Riaan Nel (the ranger) alerted him to our concerns, and the fact that we had yet to see Gamka.

Lucky left Darlington very early on Saturday morning, popped in at Addo to check on Sue and the young rhinos at Kleinvlak.

However, Lucky was very concerned about Helen (the young Namibian rhino female), when he left on Saturday 12th March. John Adendorff (ranger at Addo) too, was concerned about Helen, so after we were satisfied that the two hand-reared rhino (Kapela and Thandi) were OK and John would check, Sue went up to Darlington on Monday 14th for a couple of days).

Dirk's Kraal -14th and 15th March 2005

All the field rangers were busy preparing for the arrival of the new bull, so Riaan Nel (ranger at Darlington) suggested I go into Dirk's Kraal on my own. Lucky had drawn a very clear map of where he had seen Helen. I had both the Alinco and Telonics receivers with me, and after testing the Alinco, would leave it with Riaan for regular monitoring of the four new rhino.

Helen after rain: Dirk’s Kraal : 14 March 2005.

Helen (the younger of the two females), was in roughly the same place Lucky had seen her, but she was at least walking and browsing on the side of the hill. Observed her for nearly six hours and she seemed nervous and not settled yet - this is only the fifth day at Dirk's Kraal, and she probably needs much more time to settle down. I did not see her drink.

It was mostly overcast and cool, but the sun came out at about 16:30.

Sasha's monitoring signal came from the direction east of the female's release site.

From the bull's release site I received a faint signal in the kloof to the south of the house, so Gamka had moved some distance since Lucky got a signal.

Early on Tuesday morning, there was spoor a few metres from the gate, over my tracks. Got a signal for both Sasha and Helen on the western side. Eventually found Helen in the shade of a tree close to where she had been the previous day.

Kuzuko

I had an appointment with Daniël Cloete at Kuzuko (a concession area and a Contractual National Park - an arrangement in which the land is still owned privately, but the animals are introduced and owned by SAN Parks). John asked me to give him an Alinco receiver, which I would show him how to use, to track the bulls Ngara and Kleinalec. It was now a week since Ngara and Kleinalec had been released in Kuzuko, an area of about 14'000 ha and I was looking forward to finding them and seeing how they were managing.

There were two prominent hills from which we got signals for both Ngara and Kleinalec. Tracked Kleinalec to a thicket close to the main road, but did not see him. Ngara's signal was strongest from a thicket in the southwestern corner closer to Darlington. The area also had a Euphorbia species called noors, the rhinos favourite food. Although we did not see either Ngara or Kleinalec, we had seen spoor and some dung, so hope that they are doing OK and had found water.

Dirk's Kraal - 16th March 2005

On Wednesday received very strong signals for all three rhino in the western side, so Gamka had moved closer to Helen and Sasha.

Found Helen walking over the ridge of the hill she had been on since Lucky saw her. She was moving and browsing.

A little later Riaan joined me with two field rangers, Ronnie Gcagciso and Antonie Martins, and we walked along the ridge behind Helen's position, following a strong signal for both Gamka and Sasha. We saw Sasha down in the valley, and there was a very strong signal for Gamka - he was very close, but we were down wind and they both must have smelt us. We did not see Gamka, and a little later his signal indicated that he had moved further away. Sasha seemed to have quite a heavy belly and may be pregnant. Her first calf, Thandi, was born in the Addo bomas in May 2003, and has been released at Kleinvlak with a young bull, Kapela. We also found spoor at the small dam near the female's release site - so they had found water.

Although I had not seen Gamka, it seemed that he was investigating the new area, as was Sasha, who was looking fine, a week after being released at Dirk's Kraal. Helen was recovering and was moving about.

Modderfontein / Darlington - 19th- 21st March 2005

There were problems and rain up at Tswalu and so the translocation operation was delayed. I had arranged to go to Grahamstown to listen to lectures by Hector Magome and Karen Trendler at the Sasol Scifest, so had to miss the release of the new bull at Darlington.

He was eventually released at about 10:30 on Thursday 17th. He had, according to Cathy's report, been "fighting the crate". His transmitter seemed to work when tested by Riaan in the crate, but after release, they could not get a signal. Ronnie monitored him after release on Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday Ronnie and I could only find one unmarked female (either Blom's calf Kara, or Khora's first calf, Ntombi) close to the entrance about 100 m from us. Khora and her 6-week calf (Nomvula, means rain), was about 750 m away on the far hill. All were browsing calmly.

On Sunday morning as we started climbing Spitzkop, a steep, high vantage point, saw two rhino which could have been Quattro and Darling, two young sub-adult females. We climbed to the top, but could not see any rhino. Mid-afternoon from a different, better vantage point, found the new bull, Kuruman, in a dry river bed that runs into the big dam.

	New Bull at Darlington : Kuruman : : 20 March 2005 .

He was walking in the sandy river bed and browsing on low bushes and grass. His body shape is different from the rhinos at Darlington and Mountain Zebra; he seems leaner and slimmer. We observed him for an hour and a half. He was moving all the time and browsing. Could not see any other rhinos in the vicinity, but this dry river bed is regularly used by Shibula and Blom.

Unfortunately Kuruman's transmitter was damaged, and we could not get a radio signal.

He seemed to favour his left back leg, stepped over things carefully and seemed to tap the ground twice before putting weight on the foot. It may still be lame or bruised from the move, but we should keep an eye on it for a while.

Dirk's Kraal - 21st March 2005

Sasha : 21 March 2005.

Early on Monday 21st, we found Sasha very close to the gate. She watched us for about 30 minutes and then walked south along the fence.

Helen's signal had moved across the ridge to the east.

Did not find Kuruman again. Returned to Addo and monitored the two young rhino at Kleinvlak.

Summary

Helen seems to be adapting by staying in a small area and letting herself recover, and is relatively inactive, but seems fine. Sasha is moving very actively along the fence. Both females seen and their condition assessed at about 4 out of 5. The bull, Gamka was not seen, but he is also active and moving a lot, plus there is a lot of spoor and dung.

STOP PRESS - NEW BABY RHINO! Read on…

28 March-12 April

During my last two weeks from Tuesday 28 March until I started the drive home on Tuesday 12 April, I made four trips to Darlington and Mountain Zebra, (twice each), from Addo. So in between observations of Kapela and Thandi, I popped in to check on the new bull, checked on the three new arrivals at Dirk's Kraal, followed up on the two bulls at Kuzuko and went to MZNP to see the new calf.

Kleinvlak / Addo -Tuesday 29th - Thursday 31st March 2005

I never saw Thandi or Kapela in the early morning. Usually they were up and visible in the late afternoon, either browsing or eating grass in the area around the reservoir and the dam. Sometimes they were as much as 100 m apart, but more often they stayed close together, within 20 - 30 m. They also drank from the reservoir two or three times during my observation time.

	Kapela (lying down) & Thandi (browsing) : 30 March 2005 .

One day the rangers cleaned the water reservoir, and when I got to the observation hill, I could hear the engine pumping water. I was concerned that the level was not high enough for the little rhinos to drink, so I went down to check - fortunately it was full of water. The wind was blowing strongly in my direction and the pump was still on, so they did not hear or see me.

They are walking a lot more in the new area and during my observations they were either browsing or "eating grass" - actually eating small plants in the grass. Their condition has dropped a little, but I think that they are OK. It is obviously a stressful time for them, but they are adapting very well.

Nyati - Wednesday 30th March

Got no signal for RV (the 12-year-old Namibian bull), at any time during my stay, either from the hill at Kleinvlak or from the area where we always had strong signals. So as it is nearly two years since the transmitter was implanted, we can assume that the batteries are flat in RV's transmitter. The last time we had a signal was in January 2005.

Signals from Cathy's transmitter, came from the valley, more or less the same place we usually get her signal.

MZNP - Thursday 31st March - Saturday 2nd April 2005

Faru & Kamaia : 31 March 2005 Photo : Johan de Klerk

Johan de Klerk's field rangers Surprise Mlambo and Goodman Magqi tracked Faru and her new calf Kamaia, (which means "walks a lot") to a dam. We saw them at 14:45, they were sleeping behind a bush, then the wind changed and Faru stood up, and ran off with the calf following. The photograph was taken by Johan. We estimated the calf's age as 3 to 4 months. It was probably born at the end of December 2004 - a Christmas baby.

The sighting was too brief to sex the calf. But to see the first calf born at MZNP was a very special feeling - the first rhino calf in this area for more than 150 years! Another milestone in this very successful project to expand the MZNP.

Unfortunately did not see any of the other rhinos during this stay at MZNP.

Kleinvlak / Addo - Saturday 2nd - Sunday 3rd April 2005

Thandi was on top of the dam wall when I arrived at the observation hill, it was quite a strange sight, but she was browsing and moving around on the wall. Kapela joined her when she moved down to the bottom of the dam wall. It had rained during the day and they were a dark grey and it was difficult to assess their condition in the low light. They alternatively browsed and ate grass. The next day they were in roughly the same area feeding near the fence around the pump, and I could hear the blue cranes, South Africa's national bird, calling.

Darlington (Tuesday 5th - Thursday 7th April 2005)

Riaan Nel, the ranger had told me that the field ranger Alec Nombulo had seen a second new calf behind Spitskop, and he thought the mother was either Tria or Quattro. This was very interesting as both young females are not yet 6 years old, and it would mean that Ngara had already mated with one of his offspring. Field ranger, Johnson April and I found Tria on her own, there was no evidence of a calf. Saw Tria on two consecutive days and she was browsing on her own - as she frequently does. Shibula and Noors were browsing with a young un-marked female, which I assumed was Kara (Blom's calf, born in February 2003). Unfortunately, despite climbing to the top of Spitskop again, we did not see the new bull, Kuruman or the possible second new calf.

Dirk's Kraal

	Sasha (left) & Gamka (right) : 06 April 2005

Did not see Helen this visit, but had an excellent sighting of Gamka and Sasha in the thicket near where Gamka (the bull), was released. They both looked relaxed, Sasha was browsing and Gamka followed her as she moved through the thicket. He lay down twice and then they stood head to head a couple of times. I was very happy to have seen this interaction, as it seemed that Sasha had now settled down after the trauma during her capture and relocation.

Nyati & Kleinvlak

Back at Addo and at Nyati, got Cathy's signal again, this time from fresh spoor and a strong signal, she seemed to be in the valley, but to the western side this time. Had a final meeting with John, and a last check on Thandi and Kapela from the observation hill - they looked OK and it seemed to me that they had handled the transition from the boma to being on their own in Kleinvlak with no human contact, very well.

Kuzuko

Early on Saturday I left for Kuzuko, where I met Daniël Cloete, the conservationist. We had a very strong signal for Kleinalec in the same riverine thicket as we had 3 weeks earlier, but this time he was closer to the release site. We waited for over an hour, but did not see him. We tried for the next 5 hours to get a signal for Ngara, but to no avail. We did find relatively fresh spoor and dung in a kloof on the eastern section and assumed that the difficulty in getting the signal was due to the many narrow kloofs / gorges in this area, which affect the radio signals.

Darlington & MZNP

After trying to find Kuruman and the new calf in Darlington on Sunday, I left for MZNP. Unfortunately I only saw Alfie, (the young bull), briefly as he crossed the main road about 50 m in front of the vehicle, walked along the eastern side of the road and then crossed back over the road. There had been quite a bit of rain, about 20 mm, which made traveling a little difficult.

Summary

I have spent just over 5 weeks in the Eastern Cape, involved with the rhino moves and following up the rhino in their new areas, as well as observing Kapela and Thandi in their new area, and I was delighted to see Faru and her calf, Kamaia. The possibility of a second new calf at Darlington still needs to be verified.

I think that Kapela and Thandi will manage to adapt and become independent of humans. It was a fantastic experience and we have a lot of information, photographs and video footage of these magnificent animals. Lucky Mavrandonis (photographs) & Sue Downie

Watch this space for more updates on the rhino's progress later this year!

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